S-1104.2

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5158

BySenate Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators L. Wilson, Rolfes, and Hasegawa)

AN ACT Relating to transparency in state and local taxation; reenacting and amending RCW 44.48.150; adding a new section to chapter 82.02 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 82.02 RCW to read as follows:

(1) By January 1, 2025, the department must make publicly available an online searchable database for taxes and tax rates in the state for each taxing district. The information must be aggregated by type of tax and accessible by entering a physical address for each residency or business. In addition to searching by physical address for each residence or business, searches must be accommodated by navigating through a map of the state as a whole and down to the level of each taxing district.

(2) To facilitate the department's efforts in creating and maintaining the searchable database of each tax rate for all taxing districts in the state, each taxing district must report its tax rates to the department by September 30, 2023. In addition, every taxing district must report any changes to its tax rates within 30 days of an enactment of a different rate.

(3) At a minimum the following taxes and rates must be included in the database and broken down to the taxing district or jurisdiction level:

(a) State and local sales and use taxes;

(b) State and local regular and excess property taxes;

(c) Local lodging taxes; and

(d) State and local motor vehicle taxes.

(4) The tax rates in the database must be updated as follows:

(a) State and local sales and use taxes and local lodging taxes must be updated quarterly; and

(b) State and local regular and excess property taxes must be updated annually.

(5) The database must also contain information, or links to information, on additional selective sales taxes, selective business taxes, and taxes that are in lieu of property taxes.

(6) The database created under this section must be able to be accessed by and accessed from the state expenditure information website created under RCW 44.48.150.

(7) The department must build a tax rate calculator that allows taxpayers to calculate their potential taxes. The department must add other geographically based taxes to the searchable database as data is made available to the department. The department must report biennially to the fiscal committees of the legislature on efforts made in the prior biennium toward improving database functionality. An initial report must be submitted to the fiscal committees of the legislature by January 11, 2027, and a final report submitted by January 8, 2029.

Sec. 3. RCW 44.48.150 and 2013 c 327 s 2 and 2013 c 63 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) By January 1, 2009, in collaboration with the office of financial management, using existing databases and structures currently shared, the office of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee shall establish and make available to the public a searchable state expenditure information website. The state expenditure information website ((shall))must provide access to current budget data, access to current accounting data for budgeted expenditures and staff, and access to historical data. At a minimum, the website will provide access or links to the following information as data are available:

(a) State expenditures by fund or account;

(b) State expenditures by agency, program, and subprogram;

(c) State revenues by major source;

(d) State expenditures by object and subobject;

(e) State agency workloads, caseloads, and performance measures, and recent performance audits;

(f) State agency budget data by activity; and

(g) The inventory of state agency fees required by RCW 43.88.585.

(2) "State agency," as used in this section, includes every state agency, office, board, commission, or institution of the executive, legislative, or judicial branches, including institutions of higher education.

(3) The state expenditure information website ((shall))must be updated periodically as subsequent fiscal year data become available, and the prior year expenditure data ((shall))must be maintained by the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee as part of its ten-year historical budget data.

(4) By January 1, 2014, current and future capital project and transportation project investments must be coded with the geographic information sufficient to permit the public to search and identify appropriation and expenditure data at the parent and subproject level to the extent available by:

(a) State legislative district;

(b) County; and

(c) Agency project identifier.

(5) The office of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee must, within existing resources, update the state expenditure information website to allow the public to search for capital budget and transportation projects by selecting from an online geographical map. The map must allow an in-depth examination of financial and other data associated with such projects. Data elements must include:

(a) Project title;

(b) Total appropriation;

(c) Project description;

(d) Expenditure data; and

(e) Administering agency.

(6) The website must be easy to use, contain current and readily available data, and allow for review and analysis by the public. The legislative evaluation and accountability program committee must test the website with potential users to ensure that it is easy to navigate and comprehend.

--- END ---